Keywords
university
authority
social imaginary
reductionism
How to Cite
Abstract
This essay examines two meanings of what it means to be biblical in a pluralistic academy. The first is to study the Bible as a university document, subject to various kinds of critical inquiry. The rest of the essay explores the second meaning, which is to use the Bible as the authoritative controlling narrative that articulates how Christians view Jesus Christ as the foundation, grammar, and goal of both the university and the universe itself. It examines how biblical authority should and should not be employed in the academy, considering the natural and human sciences. It then draws four implications for the importance of using the Bible as the social imaginary of academic research, with special emphasis on how being biblical avoids the capital sin of scholars: reductionism.
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